- Rick Nielsen
Richard Nielsen (born December 22, 1946 in Rockford, Illinois) is the lead guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Cheap Trick. For the band's first few albums, Nielsen wrote the majority of the material himself. He is well known for having many custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, including his famous five-neck guitar. He sings lead vocals on the demo for the song "World's Greatest Lover", which appears on the Cheap Trick boxed set entitled "Sex, America, …
- Bun E. Carlos
Bun E. Carlos (born Brad Carlson, June 12, 1951 in Rockford, Illinois) is the drummer for American rock band Cheap Trick. He is the band's chief setlister and archivist, and maintains recordings of all the band's shows, some of which have been released under the name 'Bun E's Bootlegs'. The name "Bun" comes from a sign the family would pass on their yearly trip to Florida. Bun E.'s family includes Kurt Carlson, a member of the hijacked plane (Flight 847) in 1985.
- Sarah Kelly
Sarah Kelly is a contemporary Christian artist from Rockford, Illinois. She is signed to Gotee Records, a Christian label under EMI. In December 2006, Kelly's second release for Gotee, "Where The Past Meets Today" was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Or Rap Gospel Album.
- Ginger Lynn
Ginger Lynn (born Ginger Lynn Allen on December 14 1962, Rockford, Illinois) was an American pornographic actress of the 1980s and had occasional roles in low budget B-movies. AVN ranked her at #7 in a list of the 50 greatest pornstars of all time.
- Stewart Brand
Stewart Brand (born December 14, 1938 in Rockford, Illinois) is an author, editor, and creator of "The Whole Earth Catalog" and "CoEvolution Quarterly". His intent with the "Whole Earth Catalog" was to enable people to find virtually any sort of information useful to themselves, in the belief that humans would then develop a new, positive and sustainable culture and technology for themselves; in this way, his ideas were forerunners of the Internet.
- Michelle Williams
Michelle Williams (born Tenitra Michelle Williams on July 23, 1980) is an American gospel and R&B singer, songwriter, and actress, who was a background singer for Monica, before rising to fame as one-third of the successful Grammy Award-winning musical group Destiny's Child, the world's best-selling female group of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide.
- Ed Viesturs
Ed Viesturs (born June 22, 1959) is one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers. He is the first American, and 12th person overall, to summit all fourteen mountains over 8000 meters (collectively known as the eight-thousanders), and the sixth climber to do it without bottled oxygen. Viesturs also has summitted Mount Everest six times, a feat that, excluding Sherpas, has only been surpassed by Pete Athans (7), Gheorghe Dijmarescu (8), and Dave Hahn (7).
- Aidan Quinn
Aidan Quinn is an Irish American actor also known as Quinner. Aidan Quinn was born in Rockford, Illinois. He was raised in Chicago and Rockford by devoutly Catholic parents as well as in Dublin, Offaly, and other places in Ireland. His father was a professor in literature and his mother a homemaker; he has an older brother, Declan Quinn, who is a noted cinematographer. Aidan Quinn got his start in the Chicago theatre at age 19. He trained at Piven Theatre Workshop.
- John B. Anderson
John Bayard Anderson (born February 15, 1922) is a politician who was previously a member of the Republican Party. He was a U.S. Representative from Illinois and an Independent candidate in the 1980 presidential election.
- Jodi Benson
Jodi Benson (born "Jodi Marzorati" on October 10, 1961) is an American voice actress and singer, best known for providing the voice of Disney's Princess Ariel in "The Little Mermaid" and its sequels. She was born in Rockford, Illinois, attended Millikin University, and currently lives in north Georgia with her husband Ray Benson (not the Ray Benson of band "Asleep At The Wheel"). Jodi has also performed in several Broadway Productions.
- Ernie Kent
Ernie Kent (Born January 22, 1955 in Rockford, Illinois) is the current head men's basketball coach at the University of Oregon. He has been the Ducks' coach since he replaced Jerry Green after Green left for University of Tennessee after the 1996-97 season. Prior to becoming head coach at Oregon, Kent was an assistant at Stanford University and also coached at St. Mary's as well as abroad in Saudi Arabia.
- Cap Anson
Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17 1852 - April 14 1922), known by the nicknames "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was a professional baseball player in the National Association and Major League Baseball. He played in a record twenty-seven consecutive seasons. He was regarded as one of the greatest players of his era.
- Chad Knaus
Chad Anthony Knaus (pronounced kuh-NOWSE) (born August 5, 1971 in Rockford, Illinois) is a NASCAR Nextel Cup crew chief for Jimmie Johnson, who currently drives the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by teammate Jeff Gordon and operated by Rick Hendrick's Hendrick Motorsports.
- Ben Abruzzo
Benjamin L. Abruzzo was an American hot air balloonist and businessman. He helped place Albuquerque on the map as the balloon capital of the world. Abruzzo was born in Rockford. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1952, and then entered the United States Air Force. After graduation, Abruzzo was stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. He would adopt New Mexico as his home state after leaving military service in 1954.
- Steve Cherundolo
Steve Cherundolo (born February 19, 1979 in Rockford, Illinois) is an American soccer player, who currently plays defender for Hannover 96 of the First Bundesliga. Steve Cherundolo grew up in San Diego and attended Mt. Carmel High School in Rancho Penasquitos. As a youth he played for the La Jolla Nomads club team which won the California State Championship six times with him on the roster.
- Thomas Fleming
Thomas Fleming is an American writer, president of the Rockford Institute, and editor of "Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture", a leading paleoconservative political commentary periodical, published each month. He received his PhD. in the Classics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with a specialty in ancient Greek lyric poetry.
- Joe Mantello
Joe Mantello (born 27 December 1962) is a Tony Award-winning American actor and director best known for his work on Broadway productions of "Wicked", "Take Me Out" and "Assassins", as well as earlier in his career being one of the original Broadway cast of "Angels in America".
- Lynn Morley Martin
Lynn Morley Martin (b. December 26, 1939) is a businesswoman and former United States politician. Born in Chicago, Illinois, she served as a member of the Winnebago County Board before she served in the Illinois House of Representatives, Illinois Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives, where she was vice chair of the House Republican Conference. She served as U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1991 to 1993. She is a member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority.
- James Henry Breasted
James Henry Breasted (August 27 1865-December 2, 1935) was born in Rockford, Illinois and was an archaeologist and historian. He was educated at North Central College (then North-Western College) (1888), the Chicago Theological Seminary, Yale University (MA 1891) and the University of Berlin (PhD 1894). He was the first American citizen to obtain a PhD in Egyptology.
- Griffith Buck
Griffith Buck was a professor of horticulture who created over 80 named cultivars of the rose, all of which are capable of withstanding temperatures of -20°F and need no pesticides or fungicides to thrive. Buck's introduction to rose breeding took place when he was a high school student in Rockford, Illinois, where he began a correspondence with the Spanish rose breeder Pedro Dot.
- Charles Box
Charles Box was elected mayor of Rockford, Illinois, USA in 1989. A Democrat, Box was the first African-American Mayor elected in Rockford. Box was elected to three terms as mayor before choosing not to run in 2001. In 2006, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed Box as head of the Illinois Commerce Commission.
- Shawn Ryan
Shawn Ryan (born 30th October 1966 in Rockford, Illinois) is the creator of the television series "The Shield" and "The Unit". Ryan was a producer for "Angel" and "The Shield", and he is also the show runner for "The Shield". He is a graduate of Middlebury College. His future projects include writing the script for the film adaptation of the video game "Max Payne".
- Jerry Wayne Wickam
Jerry Wayne Wickam was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War. Wickam joined the Army from Chicago, Illinois, and by January 6 1968 was serving as a Corporal in Troop F of 2nd Squadron, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. On that day, near Loc Ninh in the Republic of Vietnam, Wickam single-handedly attacked several enemy bunkers before being fatally wounded.
- James E. Cartwright
General James E. "Hoss" Cartwright (born September 22, 1949) is a United States Marine Corps general and the Commander, United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. On June 8, 2007 Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced his recommendation that Cartwright be nominated to become the next Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
- John Blake
John Blake (born March 6, 1961 in Rockford, Illinois) is the defensive line coach for the University of North Carolina Tar Heels football team, a position he has held since 2007. Previously, Blake had served as the defensive line coach on Bill Callahan's staff at the University of Nebraska from 2004-2006. He also held the same position at Mississippi State University in 2003.
- Douglas P. Scott
Doug Scott served one term from 2001-2005 as mayor of Rockford, Illinois, United States, after serving from 1995-2001 as a member of the Illinois General Assembly. He was elected mayor after Charles Box, declined to seek a fourth term. A Democrat, Scott was appointed to head the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency after his losing his mayoral reelection bid in 2005. Scott is most well known for his work to clean up and maintain the environment.
- Leland Ossian Howard
Leland Ossian Howard, Ph.D., M.D. (June 11, 1857-May 1, 1950) was an American entomologist, born at Rockford, Ill. He graduated at Cornell in 1877. He was employed by the Department of Agriculture, and became chief of the Bureau of Entomology in 1894. He was the editor of "Insect Life", lecturer on entomology at several colleges and universities, and a contributor to reference books on the subject of entomology.
- Donald A. Manzullo
Donald A. Manzullo (born March 24 1944), American politician, has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives since 1993, representing (map). He was born in Rockford, Illinois, educated at American University in Washington, D.C. and Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and practiced law before entering the House. He is married to Freda Manzullo and is the father of Neil, Noel and Katie Manzullo.
- Stephanie Bellars
Stephanie Bellars (born January 25, 1976 in Rockford, Illinois) is a professional wrestling valet and the former girlfriend of "Macho Man" Randy Savage. She has been known as Gorgeous George and George Frankenstein. She should not be confused with the famous 1940s male professional wrestler known as Gorgeous George.
- Larry Morrissey
Lawrence J. "Larry" Morrissey (Born in 1969 in Rockford, IL) is the Mayor of Rockford, IL. As an independent, Morrissey defeated Democrat incumbent Doug Scott in the 2005 mayoral elections after trying in his first run in 2001 with a populist campaign promising road improvements, education reforms, lower property taxes and a revitalized downtown. In an attempt to reduce the city's reliance on property taxes to fund road projects, …
- Brad Wood
Brad Wood is a record producer from Rockford, Illinois. He served as a drummer for the band Shrimp Boat. Brad founded Idful Studios in Chicago in 1988. Wood gained acclaim on a national stage with his work on Exile in Guyville by Liz Phair and American Thighs by Veruca Salt. Nominated for Grammy 2000 for Best Musical Show Album of "Hedwig & the Angry Inch" in 1999.
- Paris Bennett
Paris Ana'is Bennett (born August 21, 1988 is an American singer. She came to national recognition as a contestant on the fifth season of the reality television talent show, "American Idol", and was eliminated from the competition on May 3, 2006, finishing in fifth place. On May 8, 2007, Paris Bennett released her debut album "Princess P" on 306 Entertainment/TVT Records
- Janice E. Voss
Janice Elaine (Ford) Voss, Ph.D. (born 8 October 1956) is an American astronaut. Voss earned a bachelor's degree in engineering from Purdue University while working on a co-op at the Johnson Space Center. She earned an S.M. in EECS from MIT in 1977. She then earned her doctorate in aeronautics/astronautics from MIT in 1987. She worked for Orbital Sciences Corporation in the area of flight operations support.
- Janet Lynn
Janet Lynn Nowicki (born Janet Nowicki April 6, 1953 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American figure skater and Olympic bronze medalist.
- Kenneth Gould
Kenneth Gould (born May 11, 1967 in Rockford, Illinois) was an American boxer, who won the Welterweight Bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics. Two years earlier he already won the world title at the 1986 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Reno, followed by a silver medal at the 1987 Pan American Games. Gould began his professional career that same year and retired in 1993 with a career record of 26-2-0.
- Leonard B. Keller
Leonard B. Keller is a former United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War. Keller joined the Army from Chicago, Illinois, and by May 2 1967 was serving as a sergeant in Company A, 3rd Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division. On that day, in the Ap Bac Zone, Republic of Vietnam, …
- Marin Mazzie
Marin Mazzie (born October 9, 1960) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater.
- Gordon Tullock
Gordon Tullock (born February 13, 1922) is currently Professor of Law and Economics at the George Mason University School of Law in Arlington, Virginia. A native of Rockford, Illinois, Tullock received his J.D. from the University of Chicago in 1947 and an honorary Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1994. He is a distinguished fellow of the American Economic Association (1998). He has published more than 150 papers and 23 books, …
- Edward Edson Lee
Edward Edson Lee (born September 2 1884 in Meriden, Illinois; died September 28 1944 in Rockford, Illinois), who wrote under the pen name of Leo Edwards, was a popular children's literature author in the 1920s and 1930s. Lee had a difficult childhood, dropping out of school to go to work in his early teens. He got his start as a writer writing serialized stories, most notably in "American Boy" magazine.
- Andra Martin
Andra Martin (born July 15, 1935, in Rockford, Illinois) is most notable for being the voice of Mama Gromble in "AAAHH!!! Real Monsters". She was also James Garner's leading lady in the 1959 movie "Up Periscope".